The Otago Regional Council is putting a call out to bird-watchers for assistance in its spring eradication programme.

ORC Director of Environmental Monitoring and Operations, Scott MacLean, is urging residents to keep an eye out for rooks and their nesting sites.

The birds are considered a pest because of the extensive damage they can cause to crops and new grass.

No chicks have been reported in the last four years, meaning the population may no longer be breeding.

MacLean is asking people not to shoot at or scare the rooks themselves.

He says if the birds get a fright they may scatter and form new rookeries.